April 2011 - we'll shop til we pop!

[GoldFrakkincenseAndMyrrh]

Continuation from our old thread here

So maybe this thread we'll see some babies?! And definitely lots more shopping

No you're not the only one with (ahem) vivid dreams Cycle

Thanks for starting the new thread Frakk

Blimey, there really IS a possibility that this thread may see some new arrivals. Holy crap!

Hehe. Aargh! Am having a panic about it all, I have no idea what I'm doing, what if I buy all the things I don't need and none of the things I do need?!

Calm calm, I obviously need to eat again...

Glad I'm not the only one with the weird back pain and sweatiness!

However I'm not in the rude-dreams gang. In fact, I'm frankly amazed that I'm even pregnant. Maybe I should change my name to Mary. Not that I'm complaining, of course. I've got no desire whatsoever!

I'm 29 weeks today! And it's finally Friday! woop!

You can shop after you pop, cycle

Well I did pick my pram on the basis of its large shopping basket thing...

Feel better after eating. Am starting to get mega pregnancy rage if I don't eat regularly. Something tells me much weight will be gained in the final race to baby time.

Not so rude dreams but definitely not Mary here

Back pain - yes, lower for me, ouch.

Night sweats, mine were tremendous post-natally too, had forgotten about that!

Have at least started on baby room/junk room. Got big bag of cables/wires/chargers to get rid of and gave away a spare double duvet today. Loads of crap in the way of cot & drawers still though.

Have had to wee in the night the past 3 nights running, have i had my last full nights sleep? argh!!!!

Wow, JKS, still sleeping through? I've been having the 3.30 wee for months now. I'm really good at it now (no lights, straight back to sleep and almost completely forgotten!) although the new house with en suite is fantastic!

What with the wee, the sore back and the sweating, I think I was up about 5 times last night. I remember it being 3am on the 3rd time and being gutted it wasn't morning yet!

I suppose I better get used to it!

Well i was sleeping through, most nights, not always sleeping well but the last 3 nights have not been good at all. And DH needs to learn to ignore me too, he wants to talk to me when i'm trying to cling onto sleep!

ooh, I hate it when DH talks to me when I'm falling asleep! He'll pause just long enough for me to drop off, and then add something, and expect a response.

However, he doesn't bat an eyelid in the middle of the night. Or at least he's not giving me a hard time! He is wonderful really!

(I've got some kind of rave going on in my belly this evening! Is there such thing as too much movement?)

Christ! Will we really see baby arrivals announced on this thread? This has rather freaked me out (Kitstwins: evidently in complete denial about impending newborn). God, I need to write a list of the billion things that need doing.

Petalouda your baby might have turned or shifted to the front. I've suddenly got heaps of 'front' movement i.e. limbs poking and strange disco feet freneticism. Previously I think the baby was back facing so all movements were rather muffled and low key up until two days ago.

Petalouda, me too with the movements! The whole of today has just been crazy

On the basis that this is the third thread and we're mostly into the third trimester or very nearly I guess we will see one or two arrivals but possibly not if we keep chatting at this rate! It's so strange that after having months of not really having anything to say about pregnancy (feel tired, feel sick, feel better) suddenly we're yammering on. I guess as it becomes more real there are more things to say and we have more aches, pains, movements, bizarre appointments, questions and shopping lists to share

It's nice! I feel I've got to 'know' you guys a lot better over the last month or so.

I'm sure there are topics we haven't even started on too!

hospital/labour bags
begging MWs for sweeps
false alarm labours
leaking waters vs. weeing ourselves
piles (don't think they've been mentioned yet?!)
birth plans ()
further losses of dignity in some way shape or form
etc

Feel the love, Frak!

Kit - it might be that, he usually kicks on my right side, occasionally the left, but it was all on the front/top earlier.

Although, I can feel a lot normally anyway (they said at 20 weeks scan "you've got an anterior placenta, so don't worry if you don't feel him for a while yet" we both laughed out loud, he'd been busting out already!) it was all huge twitching, kicking, spinning, hokey-cokeying earlier.

He's settled now, but I think he's generally having a move around, as I'm pretty sure he just poked his head out from under my ribs. Although DH is nearly home so he'll no doubt got back into hiding as soon as he hears the front door!

Oh, JKS, you give us so many wonderful things to look forward to!

Hello,
Not been on for a while.

Had a 4d scan last week which was amazing and confirmed that we're bucking the april trend and expecting a girl! Also showed that the baby is head down at the moment.

Like a lot of you feeling pretty tired and not sleeping brilliantly. Got a dream genii pillow which has helped a bit but still keep waking up lying on my back!

Made quite a few purchases now - this is first baby so need everything! :

Buggy - gone for Quinny Buzz 3 with maxi cosy cabriofix carseat

Moses basket - M&P - bedtime hugs

Bedding - M&P and Mothercare

Cotbed - Kub madera with matching changing dresser

Mattress - Silent Night Little Roo

Bouncer - Winnie the pooh one from Argos

Clothes - various M&S, Next, TK Maxx and hand downs from friends

Haven't bought bottles, steriliser etc but thinking of going for TT.

Other than that just the smaller stuff to get.

Feeling baby move quite a bit now which is good. Had a panic yesterday as fell over but luckily fell up some stairs at work so landed on my hands and knees and not bump! Still worries till I felt baby again though.

Hope everyone's getting on ok. Got my next scan next week - will be 7 mnths - and the mw the week after. This is all going very fast! smile

On the hospital list front.

If you're buying disposable breast pads then make sure they are the ones with the sticky patch to hold them in place. I ran out when in hospital with DS as we ended up staying for 10 days.

DH had to get me some more and got the ones that don't stick, I kept waking up with soggy PJ's

I did use proper maternity pads (Boots own brand) as I found the extra thickness provided a nice cushion for my stitches. They were also a lot cheaper than normal pads. Again make sure you take plenty as at my hospital if they have to provide them there is no sticky strip on them and I kept worrying they were going to fall out the side of my pants

Hello! TFI Friday! This weekend I plan mostly to sleep, doze, nap, catch 40 winks, snooze erm sleep (can't think of anymore).

DH always starts to speak to me as soon as I log on to MN :o. He then has the cheek to ask if I'm listening to him!

MW yesterday and got my coveted HIP form!! She is chasing up my physio after witnessing my duck walk! Buster is also lying transverse I needed to ask what that meant! BP high again, so need to go back next week to get it checked.

Off to bed! Night night!

Ooo time for a new thread already! And a very good name choice Frakk

I've been having some particularly vivid dreams too...which is annoying as I'm too tired and usually in too much pain with my back/hips to contemplate any night time action. Poor DH is being very understanding, I think I'm the more sexually frustrated of the two of us right now!

I've been off work today after having such a bad dizzy spell waiting for the bus that I was clutching the bus stop to stay upright! Went to the GP who told me to rest with my feet up and to say no to doing so much stuff. He thinks I'm probably anemic which is annoying as I thought I was doing well keeping my levels up.

Ho hum, best get back to resting as we're taking our Brownie pack to see a panto on Sunday and I don't want to miss it, there are REAL PONIES on stage!!

Hello hello! New thread and we're racing into the third trimester. So exciting. And great name Frakk

Crazy dreams aplenty here, will be pleased when that ends. Also feel totally aware of every time I turn over all night. But no sweats so guess I should be happy for that. 3:30am wee trip every night without fail.

JKS I think we need to add pelvic floor exercises to your list - anyone being good and doing them as regularly as we're supposed to? Post-flu and all the coughing has strained my pelvic floor so badly I think I need to up my game and actually remember to do them or I'm going to need to add Tena to my list of things to buy!

Have a good weekend all.

Hello on the new thread! :)

I've got an 18 month old son (Fraser) so I can add to the request for what has been useful/useless to buy.

PRAM:
MIL offered to buy the pram for Fraser, but I had no choice with which one and she ended up surprising me and DH with a 10 year old Jane pram which had milk stains and needed to buy all new liners as they had turned yellow (I kid you not...she's seriously not hard up in any way and I thought it was going to be a bonding opportunity where we went shoppog together...but instead she surprised us...really surprised us). Well that was a joy. WWYD?
It was very heavy and didnt fold particularly well as some of the spoke/spring things were corroded and I have 5 steep steps down the garden path halfway across the lawn to get from the hedge at the road and our front door so I ws really having trouble using this thing. I had bought sling as I had read up on attachment parenting and it seemed like such a good idea when I saw them used in my various travels to south america and africa, the children seemed so content. (I'll goon tell you about the sling experient later). I'm so glad I had bought one or else I would never have left the house for months. At 3 months I came across a second hand and reasonably new Quinny(so very reasonable at £60). It has been wonderful. It folds so small, it's so light, aparantly it has a great turning circle, I use this for Fraser now. MIL was furious I had bought something else but it really was unavoidable. I'll tell you about the related car seat later.

SLINGS:
As I put above these seemed to me to be a genius idea and I was incredibly grateful I had bought one. Fraser can still fit very comfortably in the slings now for short trips (Fraser's quite a bit heavier now, and baby bump is in the way so only my DH uses them with him). I bought 3 and borrowed 1 as I experimented with which type I liked.
The ridged one I borrowed didn't work for me as I found Fraser cried more and it was not in the least bit flexible in use. The one I borrowed from a friend was something like this one:
www.mothercare.com/BabyBj%25f6rn-Baby-Carrier-Active-Silver/dp/B00133HKQU/ref=ts_dp_2/276-4377169-3805066?_encoding=UTF8&mcb=core
Next I bought a maya sling as It looked more close in design to the ones I had seen in use in Guatamala. It is lovely and useful for feeding in (whilst keeping modesty. I had a lot of compliments when I took Fraser out in this and when he was small it was so much easier get out and upstairs than a pram, plus he was more content. A bargain. Then I saw one which looked completely different and as Fraser got bigger I wanted something that went over both shoulders so I bought the Close babysling. This has been great, up until Fraser was 1 I was able to take him out walking for 2-3 hours in the surrounding countryside (paths not too even round here) with him being warm content looking out to his suroundings able to communicate easily with me at my height and me being able to use both hands and not be restrictive. I didn't notice the weight of him as it is very well distributed. I could even feed and walk with no one the wiser. Well worth the money.
Here it is:
www.mayawrap.com/oasiscrm/Shopping.asp?Directive=InvDetails&Parent=Baby&Category=RS&Selection=000193
Third sling was bought in the last two months as my bump was getting too big and I saw it and thought it looked like the ones I had seen in Africa with happy toddlers in them. So far I like the design but in all honestly it hasn't seen as much use as the other two. Here it is:
www.peppermint.com/kanga-baby-sling.html

Car Seat:
MIL told us not to buy one as she was getting a great pram set for us (shame how that turned out...) so I used the grubby one for a few weeks, although I didn't get out much in the first few weeks. MIL wanted me to drive north (3.5-4 hour round trip) to her house as she wanted to see Fraser and when I got there she was not only furious that i had bought the Quinny but also that I had borrowed from a friend a car seat which fitted into the Quinny (Maxi Cosi, wonderful car seat) and actually had a five point harness for the car which the car seat hich came with the pram she had given us was flat and only had a strap that went across the tummy (I really didn't like it nor feel safe with it). Aparantly reference from MIL is I'm stubborn and ungrateful but lesson learnt that I can pass on to you ladies is that the Maxi Cosi car seat and the Quinny are an absolute dream and come highly recommended.
Update from me is that I'm still hoping for a home birth, nothing hippy, just more calm than last time and after last time with no pain relief (not through choice, really just how things panned out). I feel I'm willing to try to do this at home with an NHS midwife(Fraser was also a back to back 9lb baby with one hand by his cheek). I live 7 minutes from the hospital with the consultant led labour ward in an area with hardly any traffic. I get the impression that the midwives see home birth as unusual round here. In this county last year it was 0.7% compared to nationally at 2.7% and a neighbouring county at 3.4%. Nothing to do with topography or the difference in health of pregnant ladies in respective counties it's just down to the pervading expectations of the teams. I was told a few horror stories by the midwife so I booked to see the OB to talk through these risks that she mentioned and he said that for my particular pregnancy it would be the same in hospital or at home and then wrote in my notes "suitable for home birth". Then I had two midwives inspect my house for suitability they said the house was fine but that I had to made aware of the risks. They told me some awful examples of what had happened to some women which I've since found out would have been the same awful result in the hospital and then asked me to sign a form to say I understood the risks. Then I had a phone call from the Head of Midwifery to make an appointment to come to house to ensure I understood what could go wrong with childbirth. I had none of this when I had just gone with the flow with Fraser and gone into hospital. DH is fed up of them and really thinks they are trying to put me off. It all seems tied up with politics and I've looked into it and come up with a decision which will be safer for me and my child. I wish I didn't have the hastle. I've finally managed to find a number of folk to look after Fraser and the dog when I go into labour all I need to do with that is type up a contacts list and put it in DH wallet, up by the phone, on the fridge, in my handbag and tagged on to the end of my pregnancy file.
Oh I nearly forgot about sleeping recomendation:
COTBED
Moses basket was great for afternoon naps, Fraser slept with me in the kingsize bed so plenty of room and worked out great for feeding as I was very sore and unable to walk easily for an age and i found that i curved around Fraser and was able to properly sleep yet still acutely aware of exactly where he was (DH was away 6 days a week with work at the time till Fraser was 5 months old when he managed to get a job closer to home). When Fraser was 5months I put him in his cot bed, which he took to with no problems at all. He still sleeps in it now and there's plenty of room yet. I plan to use the Moses basket (and co-sleep for the first few weeks with DH in the front bedroom where he will not get distrurbed so he can sleep for work) then at 5-6 months transfer to the cotbed. I've already got Fraser a junior bed which he likes to climb on and read a story with me on just now so I'll get him used to it gradually. The cotbed is just lovely and converts into a junior bed for later on and then after that converts into a small sofa. I hope it will be a family heirloom that quite a number of children will get use out of..goodness we could keep it for the grandchildren (I know Fraser is only 18 months and I need a shack for dreaming already of grandchildren) Here's the link:
www.bambinodirect.co.uk/Tutti_Bambini_The_Louis_-Sleigh_Cot_Bed__Plus_Undrer_Drawer_and_Mattress-_934-496/version.asp

Just looked up, epic post! Well congrats to anyone who may have made it all the way to the end :)
I'll stop before you all call security....

Sorry folks as I've just realised that I forgot to post the close baby sling link:
www.closeparent.com/Default.aspx?tabid=186&CategoryID=301&List=0&SortField=ProductName%2cProductName&Level=1&ProductID=5632

The one i've got is a lovely deep ruby colour but they dont seem to have that colour option there just now. Still you can have a look at them and there are other colours or on ebay:
cgi.ebay.co.uk/Close-baby-carrier-/230569390371?pt=UK_Baby_Carriers&hash=item35af01b123

I also forgot to tell you about the nappies. I used disposable ones for the first week whilst I was in hospital with Fraser then when I got home when I used the close baby bamboo nappies (see on their website above). I have to say they were actually nicer on his skin, and a breeze to pop in the wash and dry, not the big fuss that I thought they may be. I ended up saving more than £500 in nappies a year even when I factor in the cost of running the machine to wash them and I didn't have a tonne of waste. So I think it's worth considering, even though like me you might think it sounds too hippy-like and a lot of fuss at first thought.

Wow architen epic post indeed! But very useful! at your MIL and the pram! Your face must have been a picture when she wheeled that out!!

BTW Love the name Fraser (it's my maiden name too) it's on the list for Buster!!

Is anyone else having a name crisis? We thought we were sorted weeks ago, but I keep changing my mind! It's a big thing choosing a name!!

Omg yes. I have 2 options for a boy and loads for a girl at the moment but worry that a) baby will hate them when it grows or b) it won't look like the name!

I have a long list of 20 girls names, but I think we're sorted for a boy (Joe).

My baba has also been dancing the rumba almost continuously this week (25wks). Not in a different place, just more of it!

And, I haven't slept through the night in weeks and weeks. It takes an enormous amount of equipment to get me to sleep these days. Theraline maternity pillow (BEST thing ever, can't imagine how I thought I might manage without it) for keeping me on my side, BreatheRight strips for my EPIC snoring (I used to snore from time to time before, but nothing like now, I'm told), and wrist splints from my carpal tunnel (anyone else with this? It's driving me scatty). Then, after all that, I wake up about every two hours either because I need to wee, because my hands and arms are dead, or because I've rolled on to my tummy and it hurts. Bah. I'm convinced it's nature's way of preparing me for the sleepless nights to come.

I bought a Close Baby Sling, absolutely detested it. That and the Bebepod/Bumbo seat were my biggest spending regrets.

Firstly I had to untangle the sling from the mess in which it had had been jammed into the carrycase so that it vaguely resembled the lovingly ironed one on the instructional DVD (and it was brand new, not 2nd hand).
It then took us a while to work out how you were suppose to put it on even after several viewings of the DVD. I wore it a few times but never found it that comfortable and always felt like I had to hold onto it so kind of defeating the object of a hands free sling. I ended up buying a Chicco one that was half the price and had 2 harness clips on each side, much easier.

The Bebepod seat was only any good for a very short period of time, despite what the product said about encouraging good sitting posture from x months (sorry I can't remember exactly) all the HV's I spoke to said you shouldn't use them until later on when the child can sit unsupported for quite long periods. Once we were using it DS worked out pretty quickly how to twist the top off so he could escape.
If you have a padded high chair you really won't need a Bebepod/Bumbo as well.

I'm sure there will be some that say they loved their Bumbo type seats. I guess that just shows it's different strokes for different folks.
The best advice is if you can, borrow before you buy.

I've got a Bumbo and a tray and I think I'll probably sell it before this one is born or is big enough to use it. In theory they are a great idea, but like Liv's ds, mine have always managed to twist themselves out of it.

I had carpel tunnel with ds2 at night for a short while ecuse, I was lucky it went as quick as it came as it's bloody painful. I hope it will be the same for you.

We've got our name sorted (it helps we know the sex) and that defo won't change as we bloody love it and have for ages. We have a rough idea for a middle name(s) too, but tbh I'm not too worried about that - which then makes me think why do we bother?!